Three Squires Walk into a Bar
by Bahamut Chris
Summary: Following the events of "Lan-Lan-Lancers," Tatsu and his friends are offered an job opportunity concerning a group in the Zeklaus Desert, and the darker side of someone's past is revealed.


Three Squires Walk into a Bar  
  
This is the second installment in the series of stories about Tatsu and his friends. They are again looking for an odd job, but this time around, they find one that unearths a horrific revelation. But don't let this interlude interrupt your reading of this fanfic, so let's just begin this installment of Bahamut Chris' Final Fantasy Tactics series, shall we?  
  
Tatsu, Mira, Peter, Jean, and Anthony were drinking round after round at the bar in Goland, Mining City when there was a loud commotion outside which made the five friends turn their impaired attention toward the door. A crowd of people was following three Squires into the bar.  
  
"They're three squires, so what? Why don't I get recognition like that?" complained Anthony, a somewhat dense chemist. The five got a better look at the squires. They were beaten to a pulp and seemingly exhausted from the way that they were limping. They walked into the bar and it seemed that one of the squires was female.  
  
"God dammit!" yelled a bard in the corner of the bar. He was very tall, maybe 6'7" with short, spiky hair. His face was crimson with anger. "Can't I trust you guys to do anything? A simple trip to Dorter to pick up my order of Potions and this happens! And what about that other squire with you, Tupu?"  
  
"We're sorry, Evan!" the three Squires beseeched him of his forgiveness.  
  
"What happened this time? Was it a scary goblin, with its hit-and-run tactics? Maybe it was that frightening, blindingly powerful Ahriman again? Or perhaps it was a Bomb that happened to explode upon you this time?" he asked, facetiously.  
  
"Actually, Evan..." a thief stepped out of the shadows in the corner of the bar. He wore a smug expression on his face.  
  
"... So it's you, Sam. How'd you get here?"  
  
"Hey, I'm a thief, therefore I can get anywhere. And I can get any information about anything along with it. And the Death Corps set upon your sorry excuses for squires, so try not to be too angry with them. And about your other squire, he's probably dead by now. They got him when he tried to make a diversion for everyone else to get away,"  
  
"The Death Corps? Ryann, John, Hollan, is this true?" Evan looked down at the three squires. He wondered if the thief was right.  
  
"It is if the Death Corps are a big group of thieves led by a few knights, then yeah, that's the number that we got," the sniveling squires whimpered.  
  
"I should not have gotten so upset at you. I'm sorry, I know that I can be a bit hotheaded sometimes. Where were you attacked?"  
  
"Somewhere around the Zeklaus Desert, my sources tell me," announced Sam.  
  
"The Zeklaus Desert, is it? They don't usually go there unless they have something particularly big to hide. Bartender! Ring this one up: 'Five strong job-seeking mercenaries needed, Pays moderately. Can keep whatever treasure is found.'"  
  
"My thoughts exactly," the bartender responded.  
  
"That's our cue," mumbled Tatsu.  
  
"Are you sure? The Death Corps are strong, Tatsu. I don't know if I can do this, especially if one of them has the upper hand with Zodiac Symbols like last time," questioned Peter. He was undoubtedly remembering their recent encounter with the Peter-resistant Ahriman in the mine.  
  
"Don't worry, Peter. It shouldn't happen too often, and even if it does, we're going to back you up," reassured Jean.  
  
"Bartender," Tatsu began.  
  
"You want the job, huh? Well, let me see the rest of your party, then," the bartender said. Peter, Mira, Jean, and Anthony came up next to him. "Hmm... well, Evan? Do they look good?"  
  
Evan turned his head toward the five travelers. "Ehh... why not? It's their own fault if the Death Corps kills them. And if they think that they're strong enough, I say let 'em go,"  
  
"You got the job, it seems. Start off tomorrow, it is getting kind of late now,"  
  
The five stayed the night at the bar. The next morning, Evan was waiting for them at the door. "Hey, looks like you're ready to go. If you need any additional information, I would suggest talking to Sam over there," he said. He gestured toward a dark alley.  
  
"Down there?" asked Anthony, hesitant.  
  
"Oh, don't be so scared, Anthony!" Mira teased.  
  
"Hey, that hurts, Mira!"  
  
"Yes, Anthony, I know,"  
  
"Don't worry, I won't tell Tatsu that you're trying to get hitched with me instead of him-" But Mira quickly silenced him with a quick palm-strike to his jaw. He rubbed it lightly and wore a sour expression on his face for the rest of the morning. They went down the alley and consulted the thief.  
  
"Heh. It's not too often that Evan refers people to me," he admitted.  
  
"You seem to know him," Tatsu said.  
  
"Yeah. A long time back, we were both thieves for the Death Corps. But as we moved up in the ranks, we learned how evil and corrupted that they were. So we dropped it quick. Evan decided to pull a career as a bard. Seems to have worked for him. I'm just a guy that wanders around, picking up little bits of useful information now. But I work best as a thief,"  
  
"Is that so? Well, just tell us what we might need to know,"  
  
"Well, the Death Corps has their fort on the side of the desert closest to Dorter. It's kind of hard to find, but they leave very distinct marker- flags that are visible from one point to another. Just don't get lost following them and end up going in circles, and you'll end up at their fort. It's a small run-down building, but they use the defensive values of the building for the upper hand. That's about it,"  
  
"No charge or anything?"  
  
"No, it's enough for me to see those bastards get dealt a blow right where it hurts; they only go there when they have something worth hiding,"  
  
"Thanks," So they left Goland for the Zeklaus Desert. A sign reading, 'Welcome to sunny Zeklaus Desert!' signified their arrival. They had expected this to be a long trek, but they were proven wrong as a thief with the insignia of the Death Corps woven into his bandana rushed past them.  
  
"So that's one of them," said Anthony. A dark tone of hatred was in his usually peppy, half-witted voice.  
  
"Woah, what's with the voice, man?" asked Peter.  
  
"The Death Corps... they just left her there... and I... I.."  
  
"Come on, you can tell us," encouraged Jean.  
  
"Well... it was about two, no, three years ago, if I remember correctly. I left our group because I had a fiancé, but you already knew that, right? Damn, I hate to remember this... it all happened in one day... she was coming back from Igros after visiting her parents. But when she was crossing the Mandalia Plains...  
  
'Hey, look, there's someone..'  
  
'She looks rich, too,'  
  
'Let's hurry up and do this before someone comes,'  
  
They approached her and beat her. They took everything of value that she had on her. But they left her for dead, and she was still alive. Then after about a day, I decided to see if she was still at Igros. She said that she would only be there a little while, not even a day.  
  
But then as I neared the Mandalia Plains, I saw something that looked like a person. in her garments. I ran to her. She was still alive, and I held her in my arms. I tried to resuscitate her to no avail. None of my potions would work. In my arms, she whispered...  
  
'Jenny! Wh... why... what happened... no...'  
  
'Anthony... th... the Death Corps... please, don't be angry. I... I was always happy to be by your side. Don't feel sad, dear... I'll be waiting for you in a... better... place,'  
  
And then her body... it faded away, leaving me with..." Anthony scrounged around in his pocket. "This," he said, pulling out a light gold Spirit Crystal. It still glowed with the light of her spirit.  
  
"I... I never would have guessed," Jean showed sympathy for Anthony and his story.  
  
"So that's why. That's why I'll kill them. I swear, I'll kill them all," This drew the thief's attention. He looked in their direction and saw the five.  
  
"Aw, hell. Someon''s a-comin'. I'd better tell everyone," he swore under his breath. He ran toward the base in the desert.  
  
"LIKE HELL YOU WILL!" yelled Anthony. He swiftly caught up with the thief. He lashed out with the Chicken Knife. Once, twice, continuously drawing blood with every consecutive attack. With a final strike, he sliced the thief's throat open. Suddenly realizing what he had done, he fell to his knees, burying his face in his hands. "Oh god, no... what did I just..." he whispered.  
  
Everyone else ran to his side. "Wow... I didn't think that he could do something like that..." said Peter.  
  
"Hey, are you okay?" asked Tatsu.  
  
"... Thanks... you guys... but that was just one of them. Let's hurry on ahead," Anthony answered. He looked up from the ground. The desert base was right in front of them. It was a crumbling structure, in the middle of an oasis. It was surprising to find such a place out there in the middle of the desert. "So that's it... let's go!" His remorse had obviously dissipated.  
  
They walked toward the oasis and the building near its center. They noticed a pair of knights guarding the oasis. "Should we try to sneak past them?" asked Jean.  
  
"No way! I'm not gonna show any mercy to these bastards!" Anthony exclaimed. He rushed in. His allies followed after him. By the time that they arrived, though, he had already slain one of them, and the other was cowering in fear.  
  
"Let him go, Ant," advised Tatsu.  
  
"Hell no. You don't know what it's like. To have this anger burning inside of you," he said darkly. He barbarously slew the knight, so very contrary to what everyone was used to seeing him as. An arrow shot past his head. "Hmm? So you want to die too..." Anthony ran in the direction of the base.  
  
"Wait, god dammit! Your strong-arm tactics will just get you killed, you idiot!" scolded Peter. Everyone kept racing after him. But their pursuit and their words were in vain; Anthony was absorbed in his own bloodlust. Another arrow whizzed past them. "Crap! Here they come!"  
  
A wave of three thieves ran outside of the base. After a few quick slices, though, Anthony made short work of them. He slashed at their vital organs, and blood sprayed in all directions as the thieves lay on their sides, clutching the places that had been severed in Anthony's assault. But an accurate arrow stopped Anthony's rampage short. It was shot into his side. It was not a mortal wound, but it was enough to stop a human from further assault on their base.  
  
"Hurry up!" commanded a voice from inside. "Kill him before he gets back up! And don't make the mistake like you did with that girl from three years ago in Mandalia Plains! Make sure that this one is dead," A group of five knights ran to assail Anthony's pained, prostate body.  
  
"Just like from three years ago..." Anthony whispered to himself. He clutched the spirit crystal in his pocket. "So these... these are the ones, aren't they, Jenny? I... I'll avenge you..." He was filled with a burst of energy and the arrow in his side disintegrated. "THERE'S NO WAY THAT THE DEATH CORPS IS GONNA CLAIM ME!"  
  
"What the hell? You idiots! Hurry up, you good-for-nothing archers! Fill him with arrows!" But as the arrows flew toward him, he sliced them away. He rushed the knights. A thief dropped off of the top of the ruins and prepared to strike Anthony from behind.  
  
"No way! Giver and taker of life, speak your verdict! Fire2!" cried Peter. A pit of fire began to generate underneath the thief, ending with a huge explosion. When the flames cleared, there was nothing more than a burnt carcass left of the thief. Anthony proceeded to tear through the knights, unaware of the battle unfolding behind his back.  
  
Mira managed to get to an unguarded side of the ruins. She struck the wall with great strength. Most of the ruined building crumbled down. Three archers were revealed from the rubble. Jean prepared an arrow and fired. It wasn't precise, though, and only managed to break two of the archers' bows and strike the last in the hands, as so he couldn't use his weapon any more.  
  
Mira got in between the three archers and delivered a crushing, spinning punch to them. They fell to the ground, cataleptic. Again, the victory pose. Tatsu ran after Anthony. He went inside the crumbling ruins and saw Anthony face-to-face with a ninja. "You idiot! You're a chemist! You wouldn't last a minute against this guy!" Tatsu warned.  
  
"Bull-crap! I'll kill him, right now, while we're face-to-face!" Anthony argued. But the ninja took this moment to use his super-quick movements to get behind Anthony.  
  
"Kill me, hmm? I would certainly like to see that," the ninja mocked. He used another ninja trick and moved himself behind an invisible ninja-wall.  
  
"Now look what you've gotten into, Ant!" scolded Tatsu.  
  
"I'll show you. You killed her. You were the one who ordered it, aren't you? You might have been a thief back then, but you had to have been a chemist before that, just like me! And even though you're a ninja, I can read you like a book!" Anthony said.  
  
He charged toward one of the degenerating door-openings. He lashed out with the Chicken Knife countless times. Blood sprayed from thin air on every pass-through. "YOU KILLED JENNY! I'LL MAKE SURE THAT YOU KILL NO MORE PEOPLE!" he cried. With a final slash, he cut through the ninja-wall. He drove the knife straight into the ninja's heart. Withdrawing his weapon, he sank to his knees again. "T... Tatsu... what... tell me... what did I do... was this... really for Jennifer? Was this... what she would have wanted me to do? Please... Tatsu, You're my best friend. Tell me... I won't deny your answer, whatever you might say to me. I'm a fool. I'm evil. I should be put to death. Whatever you think of me..."  
  
"Anthony. I don't see how you could possibly be harboring these emotions. I think... that you're just a misplaced hero. You deserve to be more than a chemist. But you want it this way, don't you? I think that you can be headstrong. But right now, more than anything, I think that we all need a rest," Tatsu answered with complete truth in his tone.  
  
"Really... I'm so tired... I need... I need to take a long... long rest..."  
  
"Yeah. We'll let you rest, buddy. We'll let you rest,"  
  
So the five went to Dorter. Ka carried the resting Anthony on his back. Jean was on Leo, and she watched Anthony the whole way, making sure that he stayed on the Chocobo. They went to the inn when they got there. They paid their way and sent Anthony right up to a bed.  
  
A while later...  
  
Anthony slowly opened his eyes. His eyelids were heavy. He tried to life his arms, but they were still too weak to be supported. He couldn't move his legs. He didn't even bother to try standing up. A man in a yellow bandana walked up to him.  
  
"Who... who're you?" he rasped.  
  
"I'm Sholtis. Hey, Evan referred me to you after he heard about your recent victory over the Death Corps. When you're better, think about coming with me to Goug Machine City. I think I have the profession for you,"  
  
"The... profession for me?"  
  
"Yeah. You're just the right kind of person for it. I'll be waiting for your answer," With that, the man left. Anthony slipped back into sleep.  
  
When he awoke again, he tried moving. This time, he could move normally. He stood up and looked around. Jean was outside on the balcony. It was nighttime. He walked out to her.  
  
"Jean..." he started.  
  
"Anthony. I heard that you were offered a chance to become an engineer. It's a very good profession. If I were you, I would take the opportunity," she interrupted.  
  
"But... if I did that... wouldn't our party be one short?"  
  
"That's all right, isn't it? I just want what's best for you,"  
  
"Thanks. But you know, it wouldn't be right if I just up and left, you know? I have a responsibility, and besides, I like being a chemist,"  
  
"I... thought that you would have taken this opportunity,"  
  
" No, not if it means being away from y-... I mean, everyone else,"  
  
"You don't have to be so self-conscious about it, Anthony!" Jean giggled.  
  
"Wh... what?! I just said that I didn't want to be away. Is it that funny that I get homesick?"  
  
"Yes, sometimes, your home isn't where you reside, like this inn, but more where your friends are..."  
  
"So do you?" Anthony interrupted.  
  
"Do I what?"  
  
"Feel the same way,"  
  
"Well... it's kind of hard to say. You can be so headstrong sometimes. But then there's that silly, dense side to you, too. So I can gladly, easily say that I think of you as... more than just a friend. But what about Jenny?"  
  
"Well... as I was lying there with that arrow in my side, I held her spirit- crystal close to me. And it whispered something to me. It told me that I shouldn't dwell on the past. I should look ahead to the future, and look into my own soul to find the truth. And as I searched my soul, I found a place... a place for you, Jean,"  
  
"Anthony..." she whispered. They embraced softly. The stars glistened in the sky on the clear moonlit night. The next morning, they returned to Goland Coal City.  
  
"Hey, look at the hero-boy. Looks like a chemist is pretty good after all," said the bartender.  
  
"So, have you thought about becoming an engineer?" asked Sholtis, who was standing in the corner of the bar.  
  
"Yeah. Sorry, Sholtis, but I'll have to turn down your offer. There are a few things in this world that I value more than expertise,"  
  
"Hey, that's all good, kid. And your leader, I want a word with him, too,"  
  
Tatsu stepped forward. "You called for me?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, I did. I've heard about your adventures, Tatsu. Just a simple mining expedition or a bout with the Death Corps can make you popular. I was thinking. Would it be too hard to take another person into your party?"  
  
"Well, I don't know..."  
  
"Sholtis is a good person," Evan intervened, breaking Tatsu's indecision. "You can trust him. Take him along, he'll do you good,"  
  
"Huh. I guess that settles it. Sure, Sholtis, you can join up. It's a hard life, being a mercenary,"  
  
"Nothing I can't handle," Sholtis boasted. "And especially with such pretty ladies in this party, at that," He gestured toward Mira. She noticed that he was slavering over her, more or less.  
  
"Now look what you got yourself into, Sholtis," lauded Tatsu, facetiously. Mira gave chase, ready to pound Sholtis into the ground. The townsfolk gathered around them, not unlike how they did with the three squires at the beginning of this corridor of Tatsu's job seeking.  
  
"... Why are we letting such a lecherous person into our party? Is this good for us, Tatsu? This man's licentious tactics are sure to rub off on some of our weaker-willed members," asked Peter.  
  
"Are you referring to a weaker-willed member such as yourself?"  
  
"No, I was just saying that it might not-"  
  
"Hey," said a thief, stepping into the bar. "Evan,"  
  
"What do you want now, Sam?"  
  
"I talked to my... associates. It turns out Tupu chose to go down your path. He escaped the Death Corps in Zeklaus Desert thanks to five adventurers, one of them a chemist with a bad temper," the thief reported. Anthon''s facial expression became one of embarrassment. "He's trying to become a bard. I would start practicing again, Evan. He's pretty good, especially since he's just a mage now. If you don't watch out, he'll be better than you in no time. Oh, and as for these mercenaries' treasure, he took it on the way out. It was a sword called the 'Chaos Blade,' or something like that. It's legendary weapon that the Slayer of Altima is said to have used,"  
  
"So... Tupu's alive, is he? How relieving, to know that one of my apprentices are alive and well, so skilled at that. I'd better get cracking then, so he doesn't surpass me!" Evan finished. Tatsu ordered up a round of drinks.  
  
"Hey... we didn't get anything out of that job, god dammit!" realized Tatsu. The bartender looked at Evan. He merely shrugged at this turn of events and tossed a 50,000-gil coin to Tatsu. He ordered up a round of drinks for everyone in the bar. After all, there was no hurt in downing a few drinks while he was waiting for the next job to come along, right? 


End file.
